Two Hundred Plus
by trvsh-przv
Summary: Street Racer AU / Ruby was content doing what she loved, working on cars every day as a mechanic. She never thought she'd be dragged into the cut-throat world of Valic street racing. An underground culture that's more violent than she could imagine. Where tempers run thin, and one wrong move could be fatal. She never wanted this, but that doesn't mean she isn't going to try.
1. Ignition

**Welcome to the first chapter of my RWBY AU. It's going to be a Street Racer AU, with a heavy focus on both cars and characters. There's going to be a lot of changes to characters, such as ages and personalities. Ruby's point of view will be the most common, however there will be jumps to others depending on the situation. I have no plans for a pairing at the moment, however that may change as the story evolves.**

 **In any case, strap in, start your engines, and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, if I did it would be a very different show.**

* * *

The distinctive sound of a flat-four engine echoed through the neighbourhood. The quiet Vale suburb unused to such sounds. The rhythmic thump of the car as it burbled along the narrow street, while loud and obnoxious to others, was soothing to the driver.

It was three in the morning on a Tuesday, and as such, the streets were empty, with only the occasional car in the distance. The dark-red Subaru, a 2004 WRX wagon, came to a stop at a set of traffic lights, the glowing red light illuminated the cabin.

A minute later, the lights flicked to green, and with a rumble, the car turned the corner and sped off towards the city.

* * *

"What have we got today?" I said to my assistant Adam as I walked into the shop, noticing a black Toyota GT86 already on one of the lifts.

"Just your standard oil and coolant change on this one." He motioned to the 86. "Then later today we've got a Skyline coming in for a turbo replacement and intercooler upgrade, and at some stage this morning we've got a Silvia coming in for a brake pad upgrade, they want to go to Bendix pads."

"Full day then, let's get started."

The service on the 86 went smoothly, the oil change and coolant replacement taking an hour at best. It was just being lowered off the lift when the Silvia rolled into the shop, its exhaust tone subtle.

From the grinding sound it made as it came to a stop, I could tell the brakes would need more than just an upgrade, a full replacement of rotors as well was almost definite. Adam climbed out of the driver's seat, holding up a hand to stop me as I opened my mouth.

"I already told them rotors would need to be done as well, they were cool with it. Slotted by the way."

"Lifesaver, if you wanna pull the 86 back into the lot I'll get this onto the lift so I can get started." He threw me a thumbs up, already walking over to the Toyota.

The first thing I noticed when I climbed into the Silvia, was that while the exterior was almost completely stock, the interior was anything but. A full five-point racing harness replaced the standard seat-belts, a roll cage wrapped around the whole interior, gauges lined the dash, everything from boost and voltage, to air/fuel ratios and oil pressure. The seats were Bride Racing, the steering wheel Nardi, even the gear knob had been replaced with a Sparco.

To say it was kitted would be an understatement. Shaking myself out of my shock, I twisted the key. A smile came unbidden to my face as I listened to the low growl of the exhaust. Slowly letting out the clutch, I edged the Silvia forwards onto the lift, wincing at the grinding that came with every touch of the brake pedal. I shut the engine off and climbed out.

The whirring of the lift filled the shop as the Silvia was lifted into the air.

I worked my way around the car, using the air impact to remove each wheel. I was about to start on the first set of brakes when Adam called out to me.

"Hey Red! Call for you!" I sighed and put down the wrench.

"You couldn't have handled it?" I asked as I entered the office. Adam shrugged as he handed me the handset.

"They asked for you specifically."

"Fine, just go finish the brakes on the Silvia, I've already gotten the wheels off for you." He nodded and left the office. I put the phone up to my ear and spoke. "Hello, this is Ruby speaking."

" _Hey sis!"_ I winced at the yell.

"Damn it Yang, what have I said about calling me on the work phone?"

" _Not to, but hey at least this time it's business."_ She sounded completely unapologetic, exactly like I should have expected.

"Fine, what is it?"

" _Geez, no need to sound so unhappy. I'm just wanting a few small upgrades done."_

"Uh-huh, and what upgrades would these be?"

" _Oh nothing major, just a new turbo, exhaust, wheels, and a tune."_

"Right, and why couldn't these wait until tomorrow?"

" _I've had these parts sitting around for months, I thought it was about time I got them fitted. And who better than the best mechanic in Vale, who just so happens to be my little sister?"_ I could hear the pandering in her voice.

"There's a race tonight, isn't there?"

" _N-no, why would you think that?"_ Got ya.

"You know we live in the same house right? I heard you talking with Uncle Qrow about it, who might I add, is not the quietest person."

" _U-um, well, y-you see…"_

"Just bring it all in at 4:30, I'll see what I can do."

" _You're the best,"_ her mood flipped almost instantly.

"You're also paying in-"

" _Love ya, bye!"_ The call ended with a click.

"-full." I sighed, rubbing my temples as I placed the phone back in the cradle. As much as she annoyed me, I did love her, even if we did start to drift apart after...

I walked back out into the shop, putting the memories in the back of my mind. I had a job to do.

* * *

The Skyline rolled off the dyno and back into the main room. The roar of the exhaust a stark contrast to the subtlety of the Silvia we'd serviced earlier. 3 inches of straight through piping from the turbo back made the noise almost seem out of place on the large sedan.

The dashboard clock read 4:15, Yang would be here soon.

I drove the car out into the lot, the owner standing with Adam.

"She's all ready to go," I said as I climbed out of the car, leaving the engine running. "We managed to get a little more power out of her, maybe an extra 30kW, nothing too major but enough to give it a bit more kick."

I shook his hand, he climbed into the car, gave it a rev, and drove off. We could hear the Nissan for almost a minute after it had left.

I turned to Adam. "I know there's an hour 'til close but you can have an early day. I can handle the cleanup and paperwork." He seemed hesitant, and I knew why, there'd been a slew of car thefts recently. Some new crew calling themselves the 'White Fang' had taken it upon themselves to steal cars, using any means they could to get the keys.

"I can handle myself, and besides, Yang will be here soon." He relaxed after that, nodding his assent to an early day. He headed to his car as I walked back into the shop.

I heard his 1989 RX-7 start, the rotary engine emitting its distinct brap. A few seconds later he was out of earshot, and the workshop was silent. I closed all but one of the main doors, cleaning up the junk from the day.

I sighed when I saw the puddle of oil underneath the catcher. I really did need to buy a new one. I headed into the office to do just that, when I heard a voice call out.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" I checked the time on my watch. 4:50. Yang should have been here by now. Regardless of that, I re-entered the workshop and was greeted by a teen. He couldn't have been older than 17. Much too young to have the sort of cars we usually dealt with.

"Can I help you?" He jumped, started by my presence.

"Uh y-yeah, I've got a Supra that's been making a weird noise, I've got it in the parking lot. Would you mind coming out and having a look?" He was wringing his hands together the whole time he was speaking, almost like he was nervous about something.

I glanced at my watch again. 4:55. Where the hell was Yang?

"Sure, lead the way." I motioned for him to walk outside, while I followed close behind.

I took two steps through the garage door before something slammed into the back of my head, and everything went dark.

* * *

 _Yang_

"God damn traffic!" I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. I should have been at Ruby's shop forty-five minutes ago, but I didn't account for the ridiculous number of cars on the road.

Finally, I reached the turn off, gratefully leaving the mess that was rush hour behind. It was only another minute or two before I was pulling into the parking lot of her shop.

 _Red's Mechanical and Fabrication._ I'd tried to get her to name it something cooler, but she said it wasn't professional. Please, who wouldn't want to take their car to a place called _Scythe Customs?_

As I turned off the road, I realised I couldn't see Ruby's car anywhere. The red WRX always sat out front in the spot labelled ' _Reserved.'_ And even though I was late, I knew she wouldn't just run off on me.

I parked beside where her car normally sat, thinking that maybe she'd just run out for a few minutes. Shrugging mentally, I switched the engine off, and climbed out of my car, heading towards the only open door.

I turned and looked more than a few times to admire her.

2005 Mitsubishi Evolution. Heavily modified for street racing, with a distinct lack of subtlety. Ruby often said that we were supposed to be enemies because of the cars we drove. I just laughed when she did.

As soon as I set foot in the workshop I gasped at what I saw. Tools were thrown all over the floor, coolant and oil spilled in huge puddles.

The drivers side window of a customer car was smashed in, glass littering the floor.

"Ruby? Ruby, where are you?" I ran into the office, drawers had been thrown open, papers littered the ground. The hook that always held the keys to Ruby's car was empty. The computer monitor was destroyed, and in the corner, crumpled against the wall, was my sister.

"Ruby!" I raced over to her, sliding the last few feet. "Ruby, come on. Wake up Rubes." I gently shook her shoulder, letting out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding as she stirred.

"Yang?" She groaned, bringing a hand up to the back of her head. "W-what happened?" When she lowered her hand it was covered in blood.

"Shit Ruby, don't move." I jumped up, racing out into the workshop and grabbing a clean cloth. It wasn't much but it would have to do. "Here, hold this against the back of your head." She nodded slowly and took the cloth from me. "What the hell happened here? Who did this?"

"I-I don't know. Someone came in, I think. They said they… they had a car in the lot. Something was wrong with it? I don't remember what happened after that." Her eyes started closing slowly. I crouched down beside her and lightly slapped her cheek.

"Come on Rubes, stay awake for me. You have camera's yeah? How do I watch them?"

"Computer. Videos save to the drive." I swore, looking up at the ruined monitor.

"Okay, hold on for two minutes." I stood and walked over to the computer. Thankfully whoever had done this hadn't damaged the box. _Good for me, bad for them,_ I thought as I removed the hard drive from the computer. "I'm gonna get help Rubes, don't worry."

The emergency services arrived not five minutes later.

* * *

It was almost one in the morning when I was told to go home, that Ruby would be fine and I could visit her tomorrow. I pulled into my driveway as quietly as possible and switched my car off. I glanced down at the hard drive sitting on the passenger seat. I'd promised Ruby that I wouldn't look at it without her.

But nobody did this to my baby sis and got away with it.

It was past two by the time my computer whirred to life, Ruby's hard drive in place of my own. I quickly navigated through the files, searching for yesterday's date, and loading the video labelled ' _16-03-18 4:45pm - Outside Parking Lot.'_

The video loaded, showing an empty car park save for Ruby's WRX.

At around 4:49, a white Nissan sedan pulled into the lot. The windows were tinted pitch black, and there were no plates. One person climbed out of the back seat, a blond haired boy who couldn't have been much more than 18, and glanced around nervously before walking into the shop through the garage door. As soon as he was out of frame another two people climbed out of the Nissan, a man with silver hair, and a woman with green hair and dark skin. They were holding a tyre iron and a baseball bat respectively, each had a bandana pulled up over the bottom half of their face. A few minutes passed, before the first guy came back outside, Ruby a couple of steps behind.

The thug with the tyre iron jumped forwards straight away, swinging the weapon and slamming it into the back of Ruby's head.

She dropped instantly, crumpling to the ground. I grit my teeth, grabbing tightly onto the edge of the desk.

The guy who had gone inside turned to the other two people, seeming to be yelling at them from his expression. The girl with the baseball bat waved her weapon down the street, before the blond ran off, sprinting down the street and out of frame. The remaining two went inside, dragging Ruby with them.

Almost twenty minutes passed before they came running back out of the shop, the girl a few seconds after the guy. The guy went back to the Nissan, but the girl went over to Ruby's car.

She climbed in, reversed out of the lot, and sped out of frame, the Nissan close behind.

Not even three minutes later, I saw my own car pull into the car park.

I stopped the video there, that gave me nothing. The faces were too blurry to make any features other than hair out and there was no audio for voices. I slammed my fist down onto the table, rattling the computer.

Another file caught my attention. ' _16-03-18 4:45pm - Inside Garage Door 2.'_

I opened the file watching as Ruby wandered around, cleaning up and glancing at her wrist every so often, the wide angle catching the entire shop floor.

" _Hello? Anyone in here?"_ I leaned forward, focussing more intently on the footage. If there was audio maybe I could catch some of what was said outside.

The two talked for a few minutes before Ruby followed the boy outside, this was it. I turned the volume up and strained my ears, wincing at the crunch of Ruby being attacked.

" _Guys what the hell?"_ The blond haired boy yelled.

" _What? You didn't expect us to keep her conscious, did you Jaune?"_ It was the guy, though he was speaking at a normal volume.

" _Come on Merc,"_ the girl this time. " _Give him a break, he's new at this."_

" _I know Em, I know."_ There was a long pause, they could have been whispering or something. " _Get out of here then."_

" _W-what?"_ Jaune stuttered, clearly not what he had been expecting.

" _You heard him,"_ Em said. " _Go."_ There was a moment of silence before I heard footsteps retreating, Jaune running away. The guy and the girl, _Merc_ and _Em,_ entered the shop.

" _Find the keys, take the girl with you. I'll make sure 'Red' knows what happened here."_ Em nodded, pulling Ruby with her into the office.

Merc stood in place for a moment, before he started destroying the shop. A growl escaped me involuntarily as I watched him cause the damage.

" _Found them!"_ Em called as she re-entered the main shop, waving the keys to Crescent Rose, Ruby's WRX, in front of her.

" _Let's get out of here then,"_ Merc said, already running to the exit. Em followed, before she glanced up and stopped running.

" _Hey Merc."_

" _What?"_ He turned and looked back. Em pointed up, directly at the camera, and he followed her line of sight. " _Ah damn it, just destroy it and let's go."_ Em nodded, before pulling a gun and shooting the camera out.

The video cut off, leaving me sat there in shock, mouth hanging open.

She'd had a gun the whole time, she… she could have…

I didn't even want to think of it. Of what could have happened if Ruby had the chance to fight back.

I rolled back the video, pausing right before Em pulled the trigger. I zoomed in on her face, staring directly into her red eyes.

I grabbed my phone, dialling the only number I could think of that might help.

" _You've reached Tai-Yang Xiao Long."_

"Dad! Can you-"

" _I'm currently unable to answer, please leave a message. Unless it's you Yang, you can call Qrow."_ I threw the phone down onto the desk and leaned back in the chair.

I sighed, I was at a dead end. Until I remembered the end of the answering message.

"Qrow!" I dove at my phone, grabbing it off the desk and punching in the number. It rang three times before he picked up.

" _Yang! How'd the race go?"_

"I didn't go. Liste-"

" _What? But you were looking forward to it for so long!"_

"Qrow, can you just-"

" _I mean, I know you didn't want to run it without those new mods, but-"_

"Qrow! If you would just shut up and listen! Ruby was attacked!" He was silent for a very long time.

" _What? I don't think I heard you right…"_

"Ruby was attacked, Qrow. In her own fucking shop! Are you at work right now?"

" _Sure, why?"_

"I need you to search for someone for me."

" _Yang, you know I can't-"_

"Please, Uncle. I don't know who else to go to for this." I heard him sigh.

" _Fine, but if this comes back to bite you, you're on your own."_

"You're the best! I don't know much, all I know is that she has green hair, dark skin, red eyes, and goes by ' _Em.'_ I'll send you through a photo"

" _Shit Yang, that's not a lot, but I'll see what I can do. You owe me."_

"Thanks Qrow, and you've gotta find her first." I ended the call, a smirk on my face as I texted Qrow the only clear photo I had of her. Whoever she was, she was going down.


	2. Break Down

**Welcome to the second chapter. I'm overwhelmed by the response this has already gotten on the first chapter alone! I'd like to thank all those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed, it's seeing that sort of thing that makes me feel my ramblings are appreciated.**

 **Anyway, on with chapter two.**

* * *

 _Ruby_

I hadn't been back to the shop in days. I couldn't bring myself to go back there. Not yet.

My car was still missing, there'd been no word anywhere about it. Out of everything, that car was the one thing that couldn't be replaced.

I sighed heavily, looking out onto esplanade from my seat at the cafe. It was a relatively quiet day in Vale, not many people about. It was perfect for me to think.

Yang had said that Qrow was looking into something for her, but didn't say what it was. Qrow himself was refusing to take my calls, the bastard.

I took a deep drink of my coffee, the hot liquid burning as it went down.

I jumped as my phone started vibrating.

I turned it over to see who at was calling. _Yang._ I flipped it back over, not wanting to talk to her. She was just going to ignore my questions and leave me frustrated.

The buzzing stopped, only to start again seconds later.

I growled, grabbing it and hitting the decline button. I almost screamed when it rang again almost instantly.

I pressed the answer button harsly.

"What?" I hissed through gritted teeth.

" _Geez Rubes, no need to be so harsh."_ I sighed, and I knew she heard it. She was probably right, I didn't need to be so angry.

"You'll forgive me if I'm not in the mood to be talking right now."

" _And I completely understand,"_ she said, unfazed by my outburst. " _But listen, I've got something I think you'll be real interested in."_

"Is it a race? You know how I feel about those."

" _Not quite. It's a meet-up, bunch of us racers getting together and hanging out for a while. You should come, maybe make some friends?"_ I could hear the hopefulness in her voice.

"I don't much feel like making friends." It almost hurt to shut her down like that.

" _Come on Rubes, it'll be fun. You can gush over all the cars that will be there."_

"Sorry Yang, still not interested." I took a sip of my coffee, no longer scalding, and tried to weather through Yangs method of ' _wear her down until she gives in.'_ She was probably about to say something that would instantly convince me to go.

" _I heard from a respectable source there'll be a 22b."_ And there it was. I put the coffee cup down and ran a hand over my face.

"Fine," I sighed. I seemed to be doing that a lot recently. "You win."

" _Yes! I knew you'd give in eventually!"_ I could almost hear her fist-pumping. " _I'll pick you up from the apartment in an hour, make sure you're there."_ And with that she hung up. I shook my head, smiling fondly.

Maybe I should try to make a friend or two?

* * *

Yang's Evo bounced down the road, flying through the quiet Vale backroads. She had one hand on the top of the steering wheel, and the other on the shifter. The meet was just on the outskirts of Vale, inside an abandoned warehouse. I pointed out to Yang how sketchy it seemed, but she just said it would be fine, that it was where every meet-up was held.

"Uh maybe you should slow down a little Yang." I was no stranger to speed, but being behind the wheel and in control was a completely different feeling to being a passenger.

"Come on Rubes, don't you trust me? I've driven this road so many times I could almost do it in my sleep!" I grabbed onto the handle above me as she swerved around a series of bends, tyres squealing as they briefly lost traction at each apex.

"You know that I trust you Yang, I just don't really- Deer!" I closed my eyes as we jerked into the oncoming lane to avoid the animal. "See what I mean!"

"Relax, I saw it a mile away. And besides, we're here already." I opened my eyes as we slowed and turned through a gate. A fence topped with barbed wire skirted the entire compound, giving it an even more foreboding feel.

As Yang drove closer to one of the warehouse buildings, she flashed her lights at the garage door. It slid up soundlessly, revealing a well lit interior filled with all sorts of cars. I lost track of how many at some stage, marvelling over the huge spread of vehicles.

There was modern and classic Valic muscle, Mistrali cars like Skylines, Datsuns, and Mazdas. Even some from Haven, like BMW and Audi.

Yang continued past them all, garnering stares as she drove through the main aisle. Eventually she pulled into an open spot towards the end, parked between a 1999 RX-7 and a 2010 Mustang. She switched the engine off and turned to me.

"Look, Ruby," she said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "I know I pretty much strong armed you into coming here-" I snorted, and got a glare in return. "But I really do want you to try and make a friend. You've always been sort of a loner, but after what happened last week… it made me realise that I'm not always going to be there to help you."

"Yang… I-"

"Just promise me you'll try, just go up to someone and start talking." I closed my mouth and nodded.

"I'll try." She stared at me for a long few seconds, before nodding and unbuckling her harness.

"Good, now get out there and socialise." She was out the door before I had a chance to move, running off down the aisle and waving at what I assumed were her friends.

Smiling slightly, I unbuckled myself, and climbed out.

My eyes immediately zeroed in on the slew of Mistrali cars, most of them lined up in the one section. I took a deep breath, and started walking towards the large group of people hovering around them.

* * *

It was almost an hour later when I found myself back at Yangs Evo, leaning against the fender. I eyed the group of people still standing around the Mistrali cars spitefully. To say it went well would be to lie, to say it even went badly would be bending the truth.

It had gone catastrophically. Who knew that talking to people would be this hard.

We even had a shared interest to talk about, but every attempt to talk to them had been met with sneers or even outright insults. Eventually the leader got fed up with my attempts to talk and told me to fuck off.

Yang had been shooting me looks since I'd stalked back over to her car. Finally, she excused herself from the group she was with and walked over.

"Hey little sis, what's up?"

"I'll tell you what's up," I growled. "The people here are some of the rudest, meanest people I've ever met! They insulted me, ignored me, swore at me! This is why I don't make friends, Yang. It's not because I don't like people, it's because people don't like me."

"You've just gotta keep trying, Rubes," Yang said before pausing, thinking over what to say. A flash of red out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned my head, tuning out Yang as I focussed on the car. My eyes widened, there was no way.

I tapped Yang on the shoulder, cutting her off. "Yang… is that…"

"Ruby, I'm trying to-"

"Yang!" I hissed. She snapped out of whatever zone she was in. "That's my car." Instantly, her head whipped around. Her eyes narrowed and a snarl escaped her.

"Stay here." She growled, before stalking over. Like hell I wasn't going to follow.

* * *

 _Yang_

How dare she? How dare that bitch show her face here. As much as I wanted to beat her to a pulp, I knew I had to play it cool. I had to make her think that I didn't realise who she was.

I could only hope that Ruby stayed out of sight.

I stopped in front of the drivers door, waiting as the window rolled down.

"Nice car," I said happily, smirking internally at the confused look on Em's face.

"Uh, thanks." She sounded unimpressed, glancing at me before looking back out the front window.

"Oh you're very welcome. How long have you had it for?"

"Like, a week. Look, is there any point to this or are you just trying to annoy me?" She still didn't look at me.

"Oh no reason, just trying to make friends." I clasped my hands behind my back on rocked on my heels. "Especially with someone who looks so familiar." That got her to look at me, suspicion written all over her face.

"I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Oh no, I think I know exactly who you are." Em opened her mouth to speak, when her eyes locked onto something behind me.

"Yang? What's happening?" Of course, I should have expected this.

"Ruby, just-" The wind was knocked out of me as the door slammed into my side.

"Yang!" I felt Ruby push me behind her. "What are you doing!" I heard the car start.

"Ruby," I wheezed. "Stop her!" I glanced up in time to see the WRX slide sideways into the main aisle and speed outside, the tail lights fading into the darkness.

So close, but so far at the same time. I took several deep breaths, before standing up straight and making my way over to Ruby.

"Ruby, I-"

"What the hell Yang! What was that shit!"

"I… I can't say yet Rubes, I just need some more time to-"

"To what, Yang? Keep secrets from me? Protect me from the big bad world?"

"Ruby-"

"Don't 'Ruby' me!" Her silver eyes almost glowed with anger. "You don't need to protect me anymore! I'm an adult, I can handle myself!"

"Isn't that normal!" My Xiao Long temper flared to life causing Ruby to shrink back. It wasn't much but it was still visible. "Isn't it normal to want to protect your family? To make sure nothing bad happens to those you love! Why is it wrong that I want to protect my little sister? Why is it wrong that I want to see you safe?"

"Oh so you do want to protect my innocence, that's what this is about isn't it? You've never seen me as an adult, even now. You've only ever seen me as the little girl who's too scared to do anything for herself."

"You know that isn't true." We were yelling now, our voices carrying into the furthest reaches of the warehouse.

"Isn't it though? You've always coddled me, tried to keep me from seeing what's really out there, to protect the little girl who lost her mother! That's all I am to you isn't it? I stopped being your sister the day she died, didn't I?"

"That's what this is about?" I tried to reign in my temper, I really did. But I'd never been that good at it. "Yes, I wanted to protect you. Yes, I wanted to keep you from seeing how bad the world really is! But I shouldn't have had to! You were a burden. I tried to deal with it, to pretend it was no big deal! Do I still love you? Of course I fucking do, but that doesn't mean you were any less of a burden on me. If your stupid bitch of a mother hadn't-"

My head snapped to the side, the slap echoed through the now silent warehouse. My cheek stung sharply, I could tell it was already turning red. I turned back to Ruby, ready to yell at her again. My temper died instantly.

Tears were running down her cheeks, her previously angry eyes were now absolutely furious, her hand still raised from when she'd slapped me.

"R-Ruby, I-"

"Don't." Her voice was cold, devoid of even anger. "Don't even try, Yang."

"I… I didn't… I didn't mean-"

"I said don't!" She yelled, her voice raw. "You need to go. I… I don't want to see you right now. You need to leave." She turned to walk away.

"Ruby, please…" I reached for her shoulder, only to have my hand thrown violently away.

"I said leave!" I'd never heard Ruby scream like that before, her voice so angry. And all of it directed at me.

I didn't trust myself to speak, I just turned and walked back to my car, casting one last glance over my shoulder as I climbed into my car, not looking back as I roared out of the warehouse and into the open air.

* * *

 _Ruby_

I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't. But it had happened, she'd said those things.

Why? Why had she said that? I think part of me knew she didn't mean it, but that part didn't care right now. What did matter was that she had said it, and at the time she thought it was right.

I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to see her again.

I was sat in the middle of the warehouse, leaning against one of the supporting pillars. Everyone at the meet-up was giving me a wide berth, thinking that I'd explode again and scream at them.

"Idiots," I muttered quietly. A pair of approaching footsteps drew me out of my thoughts. I thought they were just someone passing, until they stopped right in front of me.

I looked up, expecting to see some guy looking to take advantage of a girl in a fragile state, but instead saw a woman.

She was dressed in the oddest clothes. It was a white tuxedo that was marked with brown accents. It fit her curves perfectly. Her hair was quite odd as well, waist length, half pink, half brown. I blushed when she tilted her head quizzically and waved.

"Um, hi." She just waved again, motioning to the ground in front of me. She wanted to sit. "Look, I'm not really…" I trailed off as she sat down anyway, crossing her legS and tilting her head at me again. "Okay then." She just kept sitting in front of me, not seeming to care about my less than welcoming attitude.

She clapped her hands, startling me into looking up at her. But that seemed to be what she wanted as she smiled when I met her eyes. She held up a finger, telling me to wait. I looked at her curiously while she pulled out her Scroll. When she finally finished typing, she looked at the message in triumph, before placing the device into my hand.

I looked down at the screen reading as fast as I could.

 _Hi, you seemed sad so I thought you could use someone to cheer you up. I've been told I'm good at that._ I saw her flip her hair, like she knew what sentence I was up to. _My name's Neo Politan, and yes, I am as sweet as my namesake._ I looked up at her, a questioning eyebrow raised. She just fluttered her eyelashes at me, putting a small smile on my face.

"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." She held out her hand, and I passed the Scroll back to her

 _Cute name. Not as cute as mine though._ She held a hand up to her mouth in what I thought was a silent giggle.

"I do admit yours has a certain charm to it."

 _Yeah, I know._ If narcissism could be felt through words on a screen, that sentence would be full of it. I glanced at the time displayed in the corner of the screen. _1:37am._

"Ah damn, I really should be going." I made to stand, but stopped as I remembered my only ride had left almost two hours earlier. "Um… I hate to be a bother, but you wouldn't happen to have driven here, would you?"

 _Sure, I did. Need a lift?_ I grimaced, not realising I'd been so obvious about it

"Ah, yeah. That'd be good." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. She tucked her Scroll away in one of the many pockets on her jacket, and motioned for me to follow, already on her feet.

We weaved our way through the crowds, somehow a large number of people still lingered this early in the morning.

We climbed into her car and strapped in, before she handed the Scroll to me again.

 _So where do we need to go?_


End file.
